Climate conditions as well as the normal aging process limit the ability of the outer layer of the skin to maintain water. This outer layer of the skin, the stratum corneum (“SC”) of the epidermis, is the non-living skin barrier between the environment and the body.
Externally applied topical lotions, creams and oils intended to moisturize the skin (“external moisturizers”), sometimes embedded in other cosmetics, attempt to hydrate the SC but cannot penetrate this barrier to create a significant improvement in the ability of the skin to increase water content.
Most skin care is concerned with taking care of the SC. This outer skin layer is about 20 cell layers thick and is replaced every 3 to 4 weeks by the body. This layer needs the correct amount of internal water to remain supple and free of problems. A moist SC is flexible, smooth, and translucent. A dry SC dull, flaked and crinkled. External moisturizers may help the appearance of the top layers but have little effect on the deeper layers of the skin, including the deeper layers of the SC, and the living layers of the epidermis and dermis.
Aging and the environment can cause the SC to significantly lose its moisture-holding ability. Plumpness, strength, and resiliency of the deeper part of the skin also diminish. The result is a real increase in surface dryness as well as in crinkling, wrinkling and sagging of skin.
Accordingly, a need exists for products and methods that provide significant improvement in the ability of the skin, in particular, the SC, to increase and retain its water content. A further need exists comprising the moisturization of parts of the skin which are not easily treated using external topical moisturizing creams and lotions. Thus it is beneficial to provide a skin moisturization method in the form of an internally taken composition which addresses the entire body.